Why Charlie Strong should be Louisville's top target
by SpeedStudent on Nov 29, 2009 12:37 PM EST
67 comments
Some jumbled, random thoughts below on why I think Strong is the answer. I posted a very similar version of this in the comments section of another post. Just thought it could spark some interesting conversation...
Strong has now been at Florida as defensive coordinator for 7 consecutive years (since the Zook era), so he’s seen Florida at its lows and helped build them to the highest of highs. Factor in his southern recruiting connections (a region we used to do well in) along with his rebuilding experience, and we’ve got a damn good head coach candidate (at least on paper).
In addition to his obvious defensive prowess, he also used to coach wide receivers early in his career at Southern Illinois, so he does have some experience with the offense.
I think Strong with a good set of coodinators could get Louisville back to football relevance in just a few years. In addition, his previous national champion success at Florida would immediately infuse enthusiasm back into the fanbase, something that has been sorely lacking of late.
A lot of people (including myself) believe the main reason why Strong doesn’t have a HC job in the SEC is the fact that he’s black and maried a white woman. I would hope we at Louisville are cultured enough to have that be a non-issue and get what could possibly be a bargain deal.
In conclusion, if you don’t think Charlie Strong is the answer by now, you can go fuck yourself.
Just because I'm curious, here's a poll to see who everyone else wants as the next head coach at Louisville. If you select "Other", enlighten us in the comments section please.
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There's no way we are hiring John L. Smith back
I don’t know why people even pretend like that’s an option
I hope to god we wouldn't hire him back
But just threw it out there since I’ve heard some rumblings on the interwebs.
by SpeedStudent on Nov 29, 2009 1:09 PM EST up reply actions
The reason I've heard mentioned for him not having a HC job yet
Is that he has been offered some, but has declined them.
Sumlin or Strong
I think Sumlin would be better in terms of offensive scheming, but Strong’s a damn good recruiter, which we could definitely use. I also think that Strong would be more likely to stay long-term, although after seeing what happened with a coach who was in it for the ‘long-haul’ this time, maybe that’s not the best criteria to judge on..
Strong or Paul Petrino
Would be great choices. Do you think they are giving any legitimate consideration to Petrino? I doubt it, but we know the Petrino’s know how to coach (his offensive coordinating got withing 3 points of beating both Florida and LSU). Either of these would be great because they have never served as head coach, so (1) they have something to prove and (2) they’ll cost less to hire / buyout if we have another Kragthorpe situation. Leach is probably too expensive to even really consider, also he’s coaching football in Texas, who wants to give that up? Sumlin would be a decent choice, but kinda reminds me of Krag, a coach with a good record coming from lesser conference. However, he has done better this year than Krag did the year before he came to Louisville, so maybe that’s a good sign.
by REALISTICCARDSFAN on Nov 29, 2009 3:27 PM EST reply actions
I don't think fans would respond well to Petrino.
Not after what Bobby did.
by CardinalDude on Nov 29, 2009 5:30 PM EST up reply actions
Paul is not Bobby....
I think he was interested in staying in Louisville and didn’t leave immediately when Bobby did. I’d love to have Paul here…just because Bobby’s a flake doesn’t necessarily mean Paul is. I just think too many bridges were burned by Bobby for Paul to get a shot.
my brothers keeper
I don’t trust Bobby and I don’t trust Paul. Same lineage.
Ain't goin' happen
Why would Strong want to take a step down by coming to Louisville? i’m sure he’s turned down better jobs than this one.
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
Step down?
How is going from a coordinator to a head coach a step down?
by CardinalDude on Nov 29, 2009 4:28 PM EST up reply actions
$310K to @ $1M per year would be a pretty big step up
Who has he turned down? Were they southern schools in the BCS?
by UL is my hot hot sex on Nov 29, 2009 5:03 PM EST up reply actions
As a UK fan
your input on this matter has no bearing
Let's see
Let’s just wait and see.
And I follow Louisville football as a fan of the teams in the state.
I know that might be a little tough for you to understand but wait up and smell the roses.
The sun doesn’t rise and set in either Louisville or Lexington.
I have be correctly accused of having a 'football fetish'. You know, someone who doesn't think football is the warm up sport to basketball season.
Leach
Just think back a few years to Petrino and our offenses under him. That would be us again with Leach running the show. Different schemes, but identical in terms of gobbling up yards in big gulps… scoring fast… putting opposing offenses under tremendous pressure to score on every series. Couple that with a strong Texas prep recruiting pipeline and it’s a winning scenario. Would he stay long? Maybe not. I don’t really care. I want winners, not longevity, if we have to choose. And I think we do, honestly.
Zero chance Leach goes to UL. Step down in competition, step down in recruiting base, step down in football’s importance on the campus. Leach has to fight tooth and nail to get Texas’ left over 3- and 4-star kids to come to Lubbock. How in the world do you think he will be able to convince them to go to northern Kentucky, of all places?
Too much has been made of the relationship Leach has with our AD, Meyers. Are they buddies? Nope. But Meyers has zero input into the football program, and they both like it that way. Meyers is our old basketball coach and spends all his time and energy on that sport. Leach has the keys to the football budget with impugnity. Would Jurich leave him totally alone to run things his way? Leach isn’t required to make the rounds to boosters and typically only makes three or four appearances at events each year. Would your boosters be okay with that?
At the end of the day, if Leach leaves Tech (and I am pretty sure he will in two or three years) it will be to a Pac10 school or ACC school where the competition will allow him to win, but win over “name” programs. I mean, the Big East has only one borderline traditional team in Pitt. The rest are a bunch of recent names or basketball schools. How fun would winning a junior conference be when you’ve come close a couple of times already among the biggest of the big?
Step Downs noted, let's play devil's advocate
There are “step ups” that I think still keep Leach’s name in the realm of possibility discussion for head coach at UofL.
City is a step up; he’s attended a few KY Derbys, as most of his backers in the UofL camp have proudly pointed out.
Easier path to BCS bowl games could be considered a step up
If he has beef with the TT athletic department/director, it would be easy to point out that Tom Jurich is a step up
City that salivates over offense-first football is a step up from other possible programs, should he truly be in the mood for a scenery change
Expectations at Louisville are potting soil low, not only in the win/loss column but in the overall coaching performance and relationship with fans. It’s not going to take much to win our hearts, we are in just got out of a bad relationship rebound mode.
by UL is my hot hot sex on Nov 29, 2009 5:23 PM EST up reply actions
Eh, I have been to Louisville. It’s a decent town. It’s close to Indiana, which I guess is nice. Lubbock is no Havana, but I don’t think Louisville is a great big leap. Pretty nasty crime issue you guys have.
The only plus, to me, would be the BCS path. But how will he get the Texas kids to go to Louisville? If not them, it will take at least two or three years to get the SE kids to Louisville. Here’s a huge newsflash – Leach does very little recruiting personally. And he’s not very good at it from what the kids on our team have said in the past. They came for other reasons besides Leach the man. He’d have to find him some guys who know your area really well.
He doesn’t have a beef with the Athletic Dept…he’s just not buddies with the AD. It’s not like it’s an acrimonious deal, it’s just very businesslike.
At the end of the day, there is no telling exactly what makes a guy make a career move unless you’re part of the family. Just when you think a guy will stay, he bolts…and we’ve thought Leach was a goner three or four times before now. I think he likes Lubbock (one of his kids is a junior at Tech) well enough and I know he likes the Tech fan base which is a nicely kept little secret outside the Big XII. We pulled in about 72,000 at Jerry World against a pretty uninspiring Baylor team last night. Barely won, but many felt Art Briles was auditioning for our job should the Pirate find smoother seas elsewhere.
Malzahn would be my prime target, though.
Louisville over Lubbock any day of the week.
That’s a joke right? Louisville is Derby City. That means we have tons of extra holidays than the rest of the world. University of Louisville schedules their academic calender around it. Also, neither Louisville or Kentucky have a professional sports team. This means our primary focus is on college sports. Crime would not be an issue in Louisville where the head coach would live. I’m not saying he going to leave; I really don’t think the University can afford to pay him or should even consider paying him what he’d need to leave Tech. However, the city of Louisville is a big plus factor for any head coach.
by REALISTICCARDSFAN on Nov 29, 2009 11:09 PM EST up reply actions
your hang ups with Louisville
match mine with Leach. Just playing devil’s advocate. I hope he stays in Lubbock, seems a decent fit for you guys. 72K fans for Baylor is impressive. Not sure we’ll ever see that many fans for any football game in the Derby City (sans Trinity-St X), much less against the worst team in our conference. Kind of negates the whole “college town” argument.
Another possible step down for the Leach argument is the basketball-first mentality in Kentucky vice his current situation where football is head and shoulders above the roundball. For a coach who might be looking for less pressure, it’s a good fit but I couldn’t fathom to know what Leach is thinking, much less all the other candidates. But that doesn’t make it any less interesting to debate and discuss.
by UL is my hot hot sex on Nov 30, 2009 12:43 AM EST up reply actions
I do think if Louisville calls, Leach will listen. There hasn’t been a time when he’s ever come out and said, “I’m not interested. Period.” He is like most all of us…he’s got his family’s interest and career growth in mind at all times. I usually at least listen when I get a recruiter call for my job. Tech fans have to put up with this pretty much every Dec-Feb.
Louisville has some great positives. It sounds to me like your AD is committed to making football at least a peer of basketball on campus (if that’s possible), and that would be a selling point to me. I doubt the Derby would be a huge point, though. Sure, it’s a cool weekend (I’ve been twice), but it’s a weekend.
As for attendance…I’m sure you’ve heard about Texas HS football. Two weeks ago, in a first round game, there were 40,000 at the Southlake Carroll v. Allen matchup at Cowboys Stadium. They expect somewhere around 55,000 for the 5A championship game. Crazy…
Personally, and this is the truth, I’m not a massive Leach fan. I think he’s done wonders for our football program (this is our 8th straight season with at least 8 wins). But his in game adjustments are nonexistent. Pisses me off to no end. Not to mention he doesn’t always play to our strengths. We have pretty average receivers this year, but our RBs are among the fastest, strongest and best in the conference this year. But we didn’t use them a whole lot except vs. OU.
I still say that Gus Malzahn would be a great fit for y’all. He’s got the offensive creativity that you guys have come to expect, and I think he’s smart enough to hire a smash mouth DC to compliment that philosophy. The big negative for him is that he’s only been in the college game for a few years. That would make me nervous.
The local St.X vs Trinity game usually brings about 40k in.
Just though I would add that. I’m from TX and realize football is #1 there.
Like I said before in another thread, I don’t see any reason why Leach would come here. It’s a sidestep at best.
-Dustin
why is
Chris Peterson – HC at Boise St not on here?
I mean he should be mentioned….
Im sure he would rather wait on the Penn St job but you never know…
chillin villian
Bad omission on my part
But hey, that’s why I put in an “other” category (to save my ass).
by SpeedStudent on Nov 29, 2009 6:04 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Agreed
Mentioned on Rivals when they discussed Krag on the Hot Seat earlier in season. Directed a formerly miserable offense at Auburn to new heights this season, and had Tulsa as one of the top offenses while he was there. Head coaching experience only at High School level. Rumor was Jurich had been to Alabama to speak with him already. But those rumors came up along with the Gruden rumors so who the hell knows on that.
by CardinalSin2 on Nov 29, 2009 7:59 PM EST up reply actions
I'm still not sure who I would like...
I think my top choice would be Strong.
Though I have been thinking a little more about Tuberville and it seems like he may be a good candidate for Louisville. He has good ties into SEC recruiting, he is a big name, and the main attribute I like is that he has already had the fame and coached a big time SEC team. Maybe he would be looking to ‘set roots’ at the next university and build them into a consistent winner. His offense might be tame, but a good OC can cure that.
If we were not going to go with an already big name coach, I would feel more comfortable going with either an OC or DC. Head coaches can be made to look good by the people that surround them. So is it Sumlin’s coaching that is putting high points up or is the OC the brains behind it all?
-Dustin
Sumlin was OC at OU
in 2007, when they led the nation in points per game.
by CardinalDude on Nov 29, 2009 9:02 PM EST up reply actions
The 08 team though was pretty impressive offensivly too...
not impressive enough though to beat Strong’s defense though ;)
-Dustin
Strong quote from CL Brown's blog on CJ.com
Following the Gators’ 37-10 win over Florida State on Saturday, Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong was asked about the U of L opening being a distraction before the SEC title game. Strong told Florida Today, “What can I do? If they are going to hire me, they are going to hire me. But my job right now, let’s go beat ’Bama.”
Sounds like he’d be interested…
That is the best comment I've ever heard yet
The guy may have already taken the job for all we know with the agreement that he won’t leave until after the SEC Champ game.
I mean who answers a direct question like that with “If they are going to hire me, they are going to hire me.”
In no way shape or form does that statement say that he’s not interested and that TJ isn’t already hot on the trail. I thought Strong should have been the guy 3 yrs ago and god do I hope it’s him this time.
wow is that true?
If Strong said that, it sounds like a done deal already to me.
I find it slightly odd that he never got a raise at UF the last year or two when his name has apparently been so high on the move list. Guess they figured he’d leave anyways, why give him a raise? Seems like if he was as valuable to UF as DC as everyone says he is, they would’ve paid the man. Interesting to think about.
by UL is my hot hot sex on Nov 30, 2009 12:21 AM EST up reply actions
Southern recruiting should be a major requirement
and Texas doesn’t count as the Southern.
So I’d love to see either Strong or McElwain (Alabama OC) with an edge to Strong because it’d be nice to see a strong defense (as long as there’s a really strong OC). I’d be open to Paul Petrino, but afraid there may be too much baggage with the name. Something about Tuberville just seems too inconsistent.
ehhhh, this thread
is annoying. Particularly the TT fans wandering in here to disparage a city they clearly know nothing about (BTW it may lie on the northern border but Louisville is not northern KY; and our proximity to Indiana is a curse not a gift).
Throw out Leach, we don’t want him, anyways. IF he came, he would only come to win a championship, and as nice as that would be we probably wouldn’t like the long term result. We would end up a stepping stone again.
Throw out pipe dreams of getting “back to football relevance in just a few years.” Again, it would be nice but that shouldn’t be something we let ourselves even think about just yet. It was painful to watch Krag’s teams lose but it was worse to watch him waste talent, waste good assistants, completely fail as a recruiter, and chase away the first family of Louisville football. The coach we need has to be a recruiter first (to get our foot back into the Florida recruiting pool), a teacher second (to make the most of the talent he’s got), and a creative ball coach third (to pull off some upsets).
Given the condition in which we’ve been left by Kragthorpe, we should not be expecting any 10-win seasons any time soon. But the right coach will win the right games and do the one thing that Krag failed at more than anything else: winning over the fans.
Is Charlie Strong that guy? Maybe. But it will be have to be a different kind of Louisville team. Let’s not get confused by his two years coaching wideouts at Ole Miss and SIU fifteen years ago, his teams will win with defense. That might even be preferable; it will help to make a clean break from the past and forget the Petrino era (not something we could do if we hire Paul, btw).
I personally like Jag, but Strong would be a good choice. Another alternative (that could be a possibility very soon) is Jim Zorn. Just throwing that out there.
Do you think Gruden's still on the top of the list?
I know most of us wrote him off when he signed the multiyear contact with MNF, but that probably wouldn’t stop TJ from sending him an offer. If he were legitmately interested as we thought earlier this year, then maybe he’d accept. Thoughts?
by REALISTICCARDSFAN on Nov 30, 2009 9:56 AM EST reply actions
I don't remember...
seeing that he SIGNED the contract with MNF; only that he was offered a contract. Did he actually sign it?
Strong at Florida, Victories over Kentucky
2002: 41-34
2003: 24-21
2004: 20-3
2005: 49-28
2006: 26-7
2007: 45-37
2008: 63-5
2009: 41-7
The latest two are my favorite. The man knows how to shut down our rival, especially in recent years when their program has been consider at it best. The CJ article gives him a strong pull for the position and even wikipedia now says he’s a strong candidate for our position (also says Krag is a very nice man). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Strong
by REALISTICCARDSFAN on Nov 30, 2009 10:29 AM EST reply actions
wikipedia
lol at that reference. I could go put anything on there and post it up as “factual” information. The stuff on that site is written and edited by users. Just sayin..
by twistedwedge on Nov 30, 2009 5:08 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah
I didn’t actually think it meant anything, just found it amusing. Haha.
by REALISTICCARDSFAN on Nov 30, 2009 8:07 PM EST up reply actions
boy am I tired of this
lol at snowclones. Aren’t we over this yet? It’s a peer review process, like any academic journal only transparent. Perhaps you’ve just overlooked the detailed source citations, and long discussions that any suspect or controversial information elicits. Sounds like an ideal source of information to me. Just sayin…
It is a good source of info
but so much of it isnt gospel like some believe it to be. Just sayin…
by twistedwedge on Dec 1, 2009 10:19 AM EST up reply actions
Depends on what you're looking for.
Nobody wants to update the Einsteinium page to say “Einsteinium is expected to be the next official ambiguous element of the University of Louisville,” so I’ll generally trust it. But pages about coaches are filled with rumors and conjecture that shouldn’t be trusted.
so are television reports
and blogs, and talk radio, and former UofL quarterbacks making waves in the NFL, and the Spanish Inquisition. (Nobody expects the SI).
Strong Success
The only thing I worry about with Strong is that he has been spoiled at Florida with the powerhouse name and practically blank check. So long as he realizes we can’t always get the 5 and 4 star guys, I think we’ll be ok.
Would you rather...
…we dip into CUSA again? Krag was supposedly a guy who could turn a small program into a winner, get a lot out of a little.
I don't understand your comment
I was referring to the fact that we will not in the forseeable future fill our rosters with only 4 and 5 star guys as Florida has done for years. As long as he doesn’t put all his eggs in one basket (only recruiting 5 and 4 star kids we’ll never get), I think we’ll be okay.
I got that, and agree...
…but are we going to hold his Florida\SEC credentials against him for that? Or is that going to be one of his biggest selling points? It just seems like that statement was a stretch, an attempt to doubt a guy for one of the very reasons we like him as a candidate. He won’t be able to fill the team with them, but he can recruit 4 and 5 star guys in Florida. It’s a good thing.
I don't personally hold it against him at all
Don’t forget, Strong is my number one choice, too. My “stretch” of a statement was just a random musing I had to try and identify if/why he might not work out. I’m not blind or dumb enough to believe any candidate for the position is perfect (nor am I saying you are), so I thought I’d play a little devil’s advocate in an attempt to present a balanced argument. Do I really think his success will be a detriment as opposed to an advantage? No. Does the possibility exist, however, that he might be out of touch with how to recruit at a less-prestigious program? Absolutely, there is the chance.
by SpeedStudent on Dec 2, 2009 11:24 AM EST up reply actions
I think Strong history of recruiting at Florida would actually make him not put all his eggs in one basket. That history is what will make him in touch with how to recruit at a less prestigious program because he has spent his career getting guys Louisville and other schools couldn’t get. He knows intimately why Florida consistently gets those guys and schools like Louisville don’t. As a recruiter, he knows the advantages that a school like Florida has over Louisville because he has worked those advantages and I would find it hard to believe he would forget those advantages and disadvantages.
"This season has been everything most of us feared it would be[.]"
Mike Rutherford, Card Chronicle
http://www.cardchronicle.com/
good perspective, both sides of this argument have merit
If Strong is indeed hired at Louisville, I think he’ll be grounded enough to know he’s not going to consistently bring the same caliber of athlete to the Derby City as he did at UF but I can’t help but think it won’t be frustrating once he experiences it firsthand. He’s still human.
BTW, are you Mike’s mother or is he paying you for your signature block quote? Or both? : ]
by UL is my hot hot sex on Dec 2, 2009 6:07 PM EST up reply actions
Nah, I post on other boards, namely the Cubs and Browns boards, and I happened to see that quote one day and it nicely summed up the suckiness of all my teams this year.
I plan on changing it once I can’t find something that fits the basketball season.
"This season has been everything most of us feared it would be[.]"
Mike Rutherford, Card Chronicle
http://www.cardchronicle.com/
How about Jagodinski? He did a good job at BC.
by TheRealSlimShady on Nov 30, 2009 8:45 PM EST reply actions
So did Johnny Hart
but he can’t recruit in Florida either
by UL is my hot hot sex on Nov 30, 2009 11:14 PM EST up reply actions
Jeff Jagodzinski does not have a fundamental understanding of offensive football
(This is a copy of a post from another thread)
He was fired by the Bucs because he couldn’t call plays in time. He was given a second opportunity in the summer but couldn’t cut it. He was offered another position on staff but refused.
The Bucs head coach said that Jagodzinski only had enough understanding to install a zone blocking scheme for the offensive line, that they needed more precision from an offensive coordinator, and added that he seemed more suited to be a head coach (whatever that means).
The running backs coach called the plays at BC.
He is a fraud, same as Kragthorpe and RichRod.
You can Google all of this information to verify
ThreadKiller
If you want ot talk about questionable sources...
Raheem Morris hasn’t exactly shown himself to be a paragon of coaching wisdom. What we know about Jag is that the last time he was a head coach he was a top candidate for other jobs. Although I do have the “too similar to Kragthorpe” worries about him, at least I know he can raise talent. Surround him with capable assistants and coordinators and he’ll be a good head coach again. Whatever. I trust in Jurich’s judgment on this particular candidate, the ol’ “look him in the eye” test.
As a Bucs fan and writer on Buc 'Em, SB Nations Bucs blog,
let me assure you that Raheem Morris’ decision to fire Jags preseason was a HUGE surprise. Maybe he wasn’t equipped to run the offense, but it’s not his fault that the front office made a dumb hire. They should have done their due diligence before hiring him and they would have known that he didn’t call plays at BC.
I think that Jagodzinski is a great head coach. He knows how to properly delegate responsibility. I wouldn’t mind at all if he was coaching the Cards. We are talking about a guy that won the ACC (take that for what its worth) and produced Matt Ryan. He isn’t coming from a CUSA conference like Kragthorpe. It is BCS. In his first season at BC he led them to an 11-3 record.
"Three or four plane crashes and we're in the playoffs" - John McKay
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